WAKE (Sydney Festival) ★★★★

Created by Jennifer Jennings, Phillip McMahon & Niall Sweeney. THISISPOPBABY. Sydney Festival. Carriageworks. 15-25 Jan, 2026.

Irish multidisciplinary ensemble THISISPOPBABY return to Sydney Festival with a wild exploration of death, life, connection and other light-hearted stuff. This is an Irish wake, and it’s probably not what you were expecting.

WAKE is hard to describe because the list of hyphenates seems never-ending. This is an acrobatic-circus-comedy-dance-cabaret-beatbox-poledancing-aerial-Irish-dancing-breakdancing performance… let’s just call it a “variety show” with a live band.

Yes, some of the individual acts are familiar if you’ve seen one of the many acrobatic-cabaret’s in town (GATSBY at the Green Light, LaRonde, Briefs, Godz etc) but they’re given a new spin, quite literally in some cases. You’ve seen a muscular man do aerial tricks, but have you seen one start with some Irish dancing before stripping down to a gold pair of briefs, then taking to the air? I think not. And you’ve seen athletic pole dancing, but believe me, you’ve never seen it with this much strength.

This blend of acts includes plenty of straight-up comedic moments and is incredibly lively — which is part of the whole point. The wake is not about mourning the dead as much as celebrating the living.

In this, we have a guide: our storytelling poet, FELISPEAKS. She brings words of wisdom and cheeky encouragement, and pulls us back to the central theme when the acts become pretty tangential.

The large Carriageworks space works to the show’s advantage, giving the aerial work scope, while the big audience drives the big vibes. Musical interludes range from moving arrangements of pop hits to lashings of club beats. Impressive lighting by Mark Galione and a set by Niall Sweeney give the show a strong sense of scale.

There are plenty of easy stand-outs across the evening. Lisette Krol’s muscular pole routines are consistently jaw-dropping, while Emer Dineen’s comic alter ego, the hapless DJ Drunken Disorderly, delivers big laughs.

The multitalented Michael Roberson impresses with Irish dancing and aerials, alongside a hilarious Balloonhead routine. The live band — Alma Kelliher, Lucia Mac Partlin, Ryan McClelland, Darren Roche and Adam Matthews — give the tunes an Irish twist throughout the show.

This is a show that thrives on its audience. The performers are never happier than when the crowd are whooping, cheering along and clapping to the beats. This is very much a communal group experience.

Those in the front rows (or aisles) be warned: there is some audience interaction. Nothing too intense, but you may get a microphone in your face.

The energy is high and the acts impressive. Sydney is no stranger to circus-cabaret shows, but WAKE brings a fresh twist and turns the volume up to 11.